This is a column I never wanted to write.
I never wanted to write a message to the Chautauqua community following the attempted assassination of a former president of the United States. I never wanted to have to pen words to console a community that is dealing with yet another act of senseless violence. I never imagined I’d have to send condolences to the family of a citizen in the United States who lost his life because he chose to attend a political rally.
But times such as these call us to go on the record. They call us to be present with each other and with those we know only from images in the media. They call us to stand up for the democratic way of life that undergirds not only our nation’s political system but also our moral and ethical framings.
We are shocked and outraged at the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and deeply saddened at the loss of life and injury that occurred Saturday near Pittsburgh to citizens participating in the democratic process by attending a rally.
As Chautauquans, we are called to turn these emotions into positive action.
As a community that experienced firsthand the trauma and tragedy of politically and ideologically motivated violence, we stand in prayer with former President Donald Trump, former First Lady Melania Trump, their family, the family of the deceased and those injured, and with all who are suffering from Saturday’s attack. Hate cannot prevail in the United States of America; it is the antithesis of democracy. Dialogue and empathy are democracy’s agents, and we’ve made them the centerpiece of our own recovery from the attack here two years ago that injured author Salman Rushdie and his colleague Henry Reese. May dialogue and empathy be part of our nation’s collective recovery from Saturday’s tragedy as well.
As we leverage these tools of democracy, we do so with a stark new context and imperative for this work. I will re-state my invitation, my request, to all Chautauquans to use your time here to deepen your experience with dialogue as a skill and gift you give yourself and the communities and organizations you serve outside of Chautauqua. If Chautauqua can’t successfully empower us to more peacefully co-exist and to work more collaboratively with those with whom we most vehemently disagree, we will have missed the mark on our calling.
Chautauqua was created in 1874 as a response to the most troubling period in our nation’s short history. Chautauqua has been a source of inspiration and resolve amid many challenging periods that would follow. We stand again today in a time of deep concern and uncertainty, and Chautauqua — through its participants — will again chart a course toward resolution and restoration.
I close by sharing a quote from author Kate Bowler that I shared earlier in the day Saturday during a meeting with Chautauqua property owners. I find it to be even more poignant following the events that would unfold later that day.
From her book, No Cure for Being Human: And Other Truths I Need to Hear:
“Time really is a circle; I can see that now. We are trapped between a past we can’t return to and a future that is uncertain. And it takes guts to live here, in the hard space between anticipation and realization. How quickly we believe that nothing can be new again but then, look. Another Leonard Cohen song is being sung. Hallelujah.”
May our faith in each other, in our nation’s promise, and in the untiring spirit of humanity encourage us to sing again, in unison, a song that might heal our wounds of division.
